Front Opening Unified Pod with latch structure

ABSTRACT

A wafer container includes a container body, which is disposed with a plurality of slots for supporting a plurality of wafers and an opening is formed on one sidewall of which for importing and exporting the plurality of wafers, and a door with an outer surface and an inner surface, which is assembled with opening of the container body with its inner surface for protecting the plurality of wafers within the container body, the characteristic in that: at least one latch component is disposed in the door, which includes an oval cam, a pair of moving bars contacting two ends of the oval cam, at least one roller disposed in the door and fixed in a slide groove of the moving bars, and at least one locating spring being an integral part of the moving bars.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present field of the invention is related to a wafer container, andmore particularly, to a latch component disposed in door of wafercontainer.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The semiconductor wafers are transferred to different stations to applythe various processes in the required equipments. A sealed container isprovided for automatic transfer to prevent the pollution from occurringduring transferring process. FIG. 1 shows the views of wafer containerof the conventional prior art. The wafer container is a front openingunified pod (FOUP) which includes a container body 10 and a door 20. Thecontainer body 10 is disposed with a plurality of slots 11 forhorizontally placing a plurality of wafers, and an opening 12 is locatedon a sidewall of the container body 10 for importing and exporting.Further, the door 20 includes an outer surface 21 and an inner surface22, in which the door 20 is joined with the opening 12 of the containerbody 10 via inner surface 22 to protect the plurality of wafers withinthe container body 10. Furthermore, at least one latch hole 23 isdisposed on the outer surface 21 of the door 20 for opening or closingthe wafer container. According to the aforementioned, due to that thewafer is placed in the container body 10 horizontally, thus, the FOUPneeds a wafer restraint component to prevent the wafer from displacementor from movement toward the opening 12 of container body 10 occurringduring the wafer transportation due to vibration.

FIG. 2 is a view of a front opening unified pod (FOUP) as described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,736,268. As shown in FIG. 2, the inner surface 22 of thedoor 20 is disposed with a recess 24 and the recess 24 is extended fromthe top 221 of the inner surface 22 to the bottom 222, and is locatedbetween two latch components 230 (inside of the door 20). A waferrestraint module (not shown in Figure) is further disposed in the recess24. The wafer restraint module consists two wafer restraint components100, and each wafer restraint component 100 includes a plurality ofwafer contact heads 110 to sustain corresponding wafers, so as toprevent the wafer from displacement or movement toward the door openingdue to vibration occurring in the wafer transportation procedure.However, the above-mentioned wafer restraint module is disposed on therecess 24 of the inner surface 22 of the door 20, and the wafer ismerely attached to the inner surface 22 of the door 20 or the wafer ispartially settled down within the recess 24. The wafers either sitadjacent to the inner surface 22 of the door 20 or only slightly enterinto the recess 24. As a result, the wafers are not securely and fullysettled into the recess 24 in order to effectively shorten the lengthbetween the front side and the back side of the FOUP. In addition, thetiny dust particles generated due to the friction between the waferrestraint module and the wafers can be easily accumulated in the recess24. In the process of cleaning the accumulated dust particles, it isnecessary to separate the wafer restraint module from the recess 24 onthe inner surface 22 of the door 20. By frequent separation and assemblyof the wafer restraint module in order to apply the cleaning process,the wafer restraint module is easily slackened.

Furthermore, FIG. 3 is a view of latch component 230 in door 20 of afront opening unified pod (FOUP) as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,711,427. The method for assembling the door 20 and container body 10is mainly to dispose a movable bolts 231 on the two sides of door 20(namely between outer surface 21 and inner surface 22) and to dispose asocket holes (not shown in Figure) adjacent to the edge of opening ofdoor 10 and corresponding to bolts 231. The objective of fixing the door20 in the container body 10 can thus be achieved with the turning oflatch hole disposed on outer surface 21 of door 20 and the inserting oflatch bolts 231 into socket holes, in which the insertion and withdrawalof latch bolts 231 are controlled by the turning of latch hole via around-shaped cam 232.

And in the operating practice of semiconductor factory, the opening ofFOUP is mainly operated through a wafer carrying apparatus (not shown inFigure). The wafer carrying apparatus includes at least one openinglatch (not shown in Figure) that is to be inserted into the latch hole23 on outer surface 21 of door 20 of the FOUP and to turn cam 232 todrive the movable bolts 231 to open or close the FOUP.

In addition, other U.S. patents that describe latch component in door ofFOUP include U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,562, U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,292, U.S. Pat.No. 6,622,883, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,063. In order to achieve airtightness when joining door and container body, movable bolts will shiftlongitudinally for fastening a springy air-tight component, which leadsto achievement of both objectives of closing FOUP and air tightness.However, in prior latch patents, complex mechanic apparatuses are used,which not only results in higher failure rate but also generates toomuch mechanical friction in the operating process that pollutes wafers.Moreover, the air tightness achieved by fastening springy air tightcomponent with shift of movable bolts cannot sustain for very long timeand is not effective enough.

Moreover, in conventional FOUP, some restraint components are disposedon the inner surface of door 20. Thus, when door 20 closes containerbody 10, the restraint components contact wafers and completely fix thewafers in order to prevent displacement of wafers in FOUP from happeningduring transportation procedure. And in order to avoid too forciblecollision or friction between restraint components and wafers whencontacting, therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, a few U.S. patents disclosespringy component 86 that is disposed between cam 232 in latch component230 and door 20. In the process in which cam 232 turns and drivesmovable bolts 231 to close FOUP, this springy component 86 can functionas damping for restraint component disposed on inner surface of door 20to contact wafers under mitigated and smooth condition, and thus theproblem of collision and friction can be solved. These U.S. patentsinclude U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,718, U.S. Pat. No. 7,168,587, and U.S. Pat.No. 7,182,203. However, this way of laterally driving, it is easy for anoffsetting force to generate on the moving direction of movable bolts231, causing failure of insertion of movable bolts into socket holes ofcontainer body 10. Thus, container body 10 and door 20 cannot be closed,and the production cost of FOUP is also increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In door component of front opening unified pod (FOUP) of prior art, thelatch component is composed of complex mechanic apparatus, which notonly leads to higher failure rate but also generates too much mechanicfriction in the operating process that may lead to pollution of wafer.One objective of the present invention is thus to provide a frontopening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with oval camso that the moving bars can move to and fro on only one plane surfaceand the latch component can also be simplified.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a front openingunified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with oval cam, whereinwith the design of roller, the moving bars can be driven by the oval camto move to and fro on only one plane surface, the design of whichreduces friction generated in the moving process of moving bars and alsoreduces pollution.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a frontopening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with oval cam,in which a recess is formed between latch components for wafers to befully and effectively filled in the space of the recess. This makes itpossible for the length between the front side and the back side of theFOUP to be shortened, and also for the center of gravity to be morefocused on the central part of wafer container to make the wafercontainer more stable.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a frontopening unified pod (FOUP) disposed with latch component with oval cam,wherein wafer restraint component can be disposed on inner surface ofthe door for effectively fixing the wafers.

According to above objectives, the present invention provides a frontopening unified pod (FOUP), which includes a container body and a door.A plurality of slots are disposed in the container body for sustaining aplurality of wafers, and an opening is formed on one sidewall of thecontainer body for importing and exporting the plurality of wafers. Thedoor includes an outer surface and an inner surface; the door joins withthe opening of container body via its inner surface for protecting theplurality of wafers in the container body. The characteristic of frontopening unified pod (FOUP) in that: a recess is disposed in the innersurface of door and the recess is located between two platforms.Further, a latch component is disposed in each platform. The latchcomponent includes an oval cam, a pair of moving bars contacting twoends of the oval cam, at least one roller disposed in the platform andfixed in slide groove of the moving bars, and a locating spring being anintegral part of the moving bars.

The present invention further provides a front opening unified pod(FOUP) with a container body and a door. A plurality of slots isdisposed in the container body for sustaining a plurality of wafers, andan opening is formed on one sidewall of the container body for importingand exporting of the plurality of wafers. The door includes an outersurface and an inner surface; the door joins with the opening ofcontainer body via its inner surface for protecting the plurality ofwafers that is located in the container body. The characteristic offront opening unified pod (FOUP) in that: at least a latch component isdisposed between outer surface and inner surface of the door. The latchcomponent includes an oval cam, a pair of moving bars contacting twoends of the oval cam, at least one roller disposed between outer surfaceand inner surface of the door and fixed in slide groove of the movingbars, and a locating spring being an integral part of the moving bars.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomesbetter understood by reference to the following detailed description,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of the front opening unified pod (FOUP) of the priorart;

FIG. 2 is a view of the door of the front opening unified pod (FOUP) ofthe prior art;

FIG. 3 is a view of another door of front opening unified pod (FOUP) ofthe prior art;

FIG. 4 is a view of still another door of front opening unified pod(FOUP) of the prior art;

FIG. 5 is a view of the door of a front opening unified pod (FOUP) ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is part of a magnified view of the latch component in FIG. 5 ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C are magnified views of the moving bars of the latchcomponent of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a view of the latch component of the present invention inclosing status;

FIG. 9 is a view of a front opening unified pod (FOUP) of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a view of the wafer restraint module of a front openingunified pod (FOUP) of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a view of the wafer restraint module of a front openingunified pod (FOUP) of the present invention being fixed on the door;

FIG. 12 is a view of the wafer restraint module of a front openingunified pod (FOUP) of the present invention in the process ofrestricting the wafer;

FIG. 13A is a view of the left and right wafer restraint modules of afront opening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention being anintegrated structure;

FIG. 13B is a view of the left and right wafer restraint modules of afront opening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention being anintegrated structure fixed on the door;

FIG. 14 is a view of another front opening unified pod (FOUP) of thepresent invention;

FIG. 15 is a view of the wafer restraint module of another front openingunified pod (FOUP) of the present invention;

FIG. 16A is a view of the wafer restraint module of another frontopening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention starting to contactthe wafer;

FIG. 16B is a view of the wafer restraint module of another frontopening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention in the process ofrestricting the wafer;

FIG. 17 is a view of still another front opening unified pod (FOUP) ofthe present invention;

FIG. 18 is a view of the wafer restraint module of still another frontopening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention;

FIG. 19A is a view of the wafer restraint module of still another frontopening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention not contacting thewafer; and

FIG. 19B is a view of the wafer restraint module of still another frontopening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention in the process ofrestricting the wafer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In order to disclose the skills applied in, the objectives of, and theeffects achieved by the present invention in a more complete and clearermanner, preferred embodiments are herein described below in detail withrelated drawings disclosed for reference.

Referring to FIG. 5, which is a top view of latch component 60 in door20 of front opening unified pod (FOUP) of the present invention. Asshown in FIG. 5, a pair of latch components 60 are located between outersurface and inner surface of door 20, in which each latch component 60is composed of an oval cam 62, a pair of moving bars 64 are contactingtwo ends of oval cam 62, at least one roller 66 disposed between outersurface and inner surface of door 20 and fixed in slide groove 642 ofthe moving bars 64, and a locating spring 68 being an integral part ofthe moving bars 64. Then referring to FIG. 6, which is a magnified viewof two ends of oval cam 62 that contact moving bars 64. As shown in FIG.6, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a locating roller644 can be further disposed where moving bars 64 contacting two ends ofoval cam 62. When the oval cam 62 turned, the force of friction betweenmoving bars 64 and oval cam 62 can be reduced. Moreover, with the designof a plurality of locating grooves 622 on oval cam 62, when the oval cam62 turns, locating rollers 644 can slide smoothly into locating groove622 as point of restriction for the turning oval cam 62. In thispreferred embodiment of the present invention, the oval cam 62 can bemade of metal or polymer plastic material, which is not limited in thepresent invention.

In the following, referring to FIGS. 7A-7C, which are views of movingbars 64 of latch component 60 of the present invention. On one end ofmoving bars 64 is disposed with a locating roller 644, and on theopposite end is a physical plane surface 646. Between the two ends of aslide groove 642 is formed with roller 66 that fastened in door 20 andfixed in it. Moreover, the end of moving bars 64 that is near tolocating rollers 644 is connected with one end of locating spring 68,and the other end of locating spring 68 is fixed on door 20. Therefore,when the door 20 is to close the opening 12 of container body 10, door20 and container body 10 are first joined and then oval cam 62 isturned; when oval cam 62 turns, the moving bars 64 are pushed by ovalcam 62 toward the edge of door 20. Thus physical plane surface 646 ofmoving bars 64 is allowed to go through latch hole 27 of door 20 andextends into socket hole (not shown in Figure) located near the edge ofopening of container body 10 and corresponding with latch hole 27, andcontainer body 10 and door 20 can thus be joined into one and theclosing procedure of container body 10 is thus completed. Meanwhile,locating spring 68 is compressed, and thus when door 20 is about to beopened, with the turning of oval cam 62, a force of locating spring 64generated according to Hooke's law will also drive moving bars 64 toresume to the location in opening status. In preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, moving bars 64 and locating spring 68 can be made ofmetal or polymer plastic material, which is not limited in the presentinvention; the material of roller 66 is not limited either in thepresent invention.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 7B, in a preferred embodiment, rollers 66 aredisposed in pair in door 20 and each of the pair of rollers is at aproper distance from the other. Therefore, when roller 662 and roller664 are fixed in slide groove 642 of moving bars 64, this pair ofrollers 66 can accurately and smoothly guide plane surface 646 of movingbars 64 through latch hole 27 located on door 20.

What is to be emphasized here is that, in the process of the presentinvention described above, an oval cam 62 and moving bars 64 are used todescribe the operating procedures of latch component 60, but actuallyeach oval cam 62 is in contact with a pair of moving bars 64, and ineach door 20 is disposed with a pair of latch component 60 (as shown inFIG. 5, in which door 20 of the present invention is in opening status).Due to that the cam in latch component 60 of the present invention is anoval cam 62, which forms a pair of latch holes (not shown in Figure) onthe outer surface 21 of door 20. Since oval cam 62 has a longer radius Yand a shorter radius X, in the present invention the difference betweentwo different radiuses of oval cam 62 is used as starting component forcontrolling the to and fro movement of moving bars 64. For example, formoving bars 64 to move up or down along two lateral sides of door 20 for10 mm˜30 mm in order to let front end of moving bars 64 go through door20, the length difference between longer radius and shorter radius ofoval cam 62 should be no less than 10 mm-30 mm. Due to that the two endsof shorter radius of oval cam 62 are in contact with a pair of movingbars 64 located on two ends when door 20 opens, apparently, when door 20closes container body 10, the moving bars 64 on two ends can be made tocontact longer radius of oval cam 62 by turning oval cam 62. Since thedifferent in length between longer radius and shorter radius of oval cam62 should be no less than 50 mm, therefore when oval cam 62 turns to alocating groove 622 located on longer radius Y. front plane surface 646of moving bars 64 can be made to go through latch hole 27 on door 20, asshown in FIG. 8. What is to be emphasized here is that as moving bars 64are connected to one end of locating spring 68 near the end of locatingroller 644, and the other end of locating spring 68 is fixed to door 20,therefore when oval cam 62 turns to locating groove 622 located onlonger radius Y, moving bars 64 will be pushed by oval cam 62 towardlatch hole 27 on the edge of door 20. At this time, locating spring 68will be compressed, and thus when door 20 is about to be opened, withoval cam 62 turning to locating groove 622 located on shorter radius X,a force generated according to Hooke's law of locating spring 68 willalso drive moving bars 64 to resume to the location in opening status(i.e. oval cam 62 stays at locating groove 622 located on shorter radiusX).

Then, referring to FIG. 9, which is a view of a wafer container of thepresent invention. This wafer container is a front opening unified pod(FOUP) which includes a container body 10 and a door 20. A plurality ofslots 11 is disposed in the container body 10 for sustaining a pluralityof wafers, and an opening 12 is formed on one sidewall of the containerbody 10 for importing and exporting the plurality of wafers. The door 20includes an outer surface 21 and an inner surface 22. The outer surface21 of door 20 is disposed with at least one latch hole (not shown inFigure) for opening or closing the front opening unified pod (FOUP). Andaround the center of inner surface 22 of door 20 is disposed with arecess 24. The recess 24 is between two platforms 25 and inside twoplatforms 25 is disposed with aforementioned latch component 60. Anobjective of the recess 24 is to sustain the plurality of wafers incontainer body 10 for shortening the size of the FOUR And a waferrestraint module 30 is disposed on each of the platform 25 respectivelyfor restricting the movement of wafers toward the opening of the wafercontainer and controlling the number of wafers settling down the recess24.

The length of the recess 24 of the inner surface 22 of door 20 asdescribed above is related to the distance between slots 11 in containerbody 10 and the number of the wafers. The distance between 12″ wafershas been a standard regulation in the industry to achieve maximumcapacity of loading and ensure at the same time that there is enoughspace for the mechanical arm to stretch in for importing or exporting.In general, the number of wafers to be in the wafer container is 25pieces. However, the width and the depth of recess 24 of the presentinvention can be adjusted. When the thickness of the door 20 isconstant, the depth of recess 24 can be adjusted to be deeper, and thewidth of recess 24 is also adjusted to be wider for the whole wafer tobe placed further into recess 24.

Moreover, referring to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, which are views of waferrestraint module of wafer container of the present invention that isfixed to the door. The wafer restraint module 30 includes a rectangularbar base portion 31, which includes two longer sides 31L and two shortersides 31S. One of the two longer sides 31L is adjacent to the recess 24to form a plurality of curve portions 32 with a space at interval. Asemicircle-like protruding portion 32C is formed between each curveportion 32 and its free-end. And a guide notch 32G is disposed onsemicircle-like protruding portion 32C to contact wafers for restrictingmovement of corresponding wafers toward the opening of the wafercontainer.

The guide notch 32G of the semicircle-like protruding portion 32C isused to sustain the wafer. The width of the guide notch 32G can beequaled to the thickness of wafer so that the wafer can sink into theguide notch 32G without moving up and down. The surface of guide notch32G that contacts wafer can be coated with a wear-resisting material,such as PEEK material, to reduce the friction for the wafer.Furthermore, the wafer restraint module 30 can be an integratedstructure and can be made of one or two different materials. Forexample, the base portion 31 and the curve portion 32 are made of onematerial and the semicircle-like protruding portion 32C is made ofanother material and formed on the curve portion 32. Obviously, anincluded angle, which is about 10 to 60 degrees, is formed between therectangular bar base portion 31 and the curve portion 32. Since thewafer restraint module 30 on two sides of recess 24 are symmetrical, theresultant forces is formed toward the center of the wafer when the waferis restricted by wafer restraint module 30 (as shown in FIG. 12) forpreventing the wafer from shaking. And the wafer restraint module 30 notonly restricts the movement of wafer toward the opening of the wafercontainer, but also makes the wafer fully sink into the recess 24, sothat the length between front side and of back side can be shortened,the center of gravity of the whole wafer container is more focused onthe center of wafer container, and the stability of wafer container isalso improved. As shown in FIG. 10, as a gap is located between theplurality of semicircle-like protruding portion 32C on the curve portion32, thus the curve portion 32 is more elastic to permit deformation dueto crackdown of the wafer.

Furthermore, according to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the base portion 31includes a plurality of snap holes 33, and a snap pillar 26 is disposedon the inner surface 22 that corresponds to the snap holes 33; thus, thewafer restraint module 30 is firmly set on the platforms 25 of therecess 24 of the inner surface 22 of the door 20 by snapping on theplatforms 25. In order to facilitate the manufacturing procedures, thewafer restraint module 30 can also be integrated with the inner surface22 of door 20 to prevent from slackening of the wafer restraint module30. Then, referring to FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B, the wafer restraint module30 on two sides of recess 24 can also be an integrated structure, whichincludes a central hole 34 that corresponds to the recess 24 of door 20.This integrated structure can also be firmly set on the inner surface 22of door 20 by snapping on or directly integrated with the inner surface22 of the door 20.

Secondly, referring to FIG. 14, is a view of another wafer container ofthe present invention. The wafer container is the same as the wafercontainer as shown in FIG. 9 and includes a container body 10 and a door20. The difference lies in that the wafer restraint module 400 fixed ontwo sides of the recess 24 of the inner surface 22 of the door 20 isdifferent from the wafer restraint module 30. As shown in FIG. 15A andFIG. 16A, the wafer restraint module 400 on two sides of the recess 24is formed by a plurality of wafer restraint components 40 with a spaceat interval, and each wafer restraint component 40 is aligned with acorresponding wafer restraint module 40 of the wafer restraint module400 that is located on the other side of the recess 24. Each waferrestraint component 40 includes a base portion 41 that is fixed on theinner surface 22 of the door 20, and one sidewall of the base portion 41is located adjacent to the recess 24. The sidewall of base portion 41described above is extended toward the opening of the container body 10to form a curve portion 42 and turned to the central portion of therecess 24 to form a plurality of bent arms 43. The plurality of bentarms 43 are disposed on two side of the top of the recess 24, and thecross of the bent arm 43 and the curve portion 42 includes a firstcontact head 44, and the free-end of the bent arm 43 includes a secondcontact head 45 thereon. As shown in FIG. 16A, each wafer restraintcomponent 40 is an elastic integrated structure (for example:thermal-elastic plastic). When the door 20 and the container body 10 areabout to be joined, the connected line (44-45) between the first contacthead 44 and the second contact head 45 of the wafer restraint component40 is parallel to the inner surface 22 of the door 20. Meanwhile, thewafer first contacts the second contact head 45 to deform the curveportion 42 to lever the bent arm 43, so as another contact head of thebent arm 43, i.e. the first contact head 44, will contact the wafer insequence. Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 16B, the door 20 is sealed withthe container body 10, and an included angle is formed between theconnected line (44-45) of the first contact head 44 and the secondcontact head 45 of the wafer restraint component 40 and the innersurface 22 of the door 20. Obviously, each wafer restraint component 40contacts the wafer with two contact heads for the wafer to be sustainedand also be restricted from moving toward the opening of the wafercontainer. The tiny dust particles that are generated due to vibrationduring transportation of wafers can thus be reduced. In addition, thewafer can also effectively sink into the recess 24 for the size of thewafer container to be shortened.

The curve portion 42 of the wafer restraint component 40 is an elasticstructure (for example: thermal-elastic plastic) with a bent angle.Thus, in the sealing procedure, when the door 20 and the container body10 go from the status of not closed to the status of closed, the bentangle would be changed to make the first contact head 44 that contactedthe second contact head 45. Furthermore, the bent portion 42 and thebent arm 43 can be made of two different materials, such as plastic withdifferent hardness which can generate larger deformation for the curveportion 42 and the bent arm 43 would not easily deform. The firstcontact head 44 and the second contact head 45 include a recessrespectively, so as the wafer can sink into the recess to avoid up anddown movement of the wafer. Moreover, the plurality of wafer restraintcomponents 40 can form a base portion, wherein the base portion isfirmly disposed on the inner surface 22 of the door 20. Certainly, theplurality of wafer restraint components 40 can also be integrated withthe inner surface 22 of the door 20 to reduce the manufacturing cost.

Then, referring to FIG. 17, which is a view of still another wafercontainer of the present invention. This front opening unified pod(FOUP) is similar to the wafer container as shown in FIG. 14 in that itincludes a container body 10 and a door 20, yet different in that eachof the wafer restraint modules 500 located on two sides of the recess 24of the inner surface 22 of the door 20 includes three contact heads, asshown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19A. The wafer restraint modules 500 on thetwo sides of recess 24 are composed of the plurality of wafer restraintcomponents 50 in arrangement. Each wafer restraint component 50 isaligned with the corresponding wafer restraint component 50 on the waferrestraint modules 500 on the other side of the recess 24, wherein eachwafer restraint component 50 includes a base portion 51. One end of thebase portion 51 is fixed on the inner surface 22 of the door 20, andanother end is connected to a first bent arm 52, the first bent arm 52including two free-ends. A first contact head 54 is formed at one of thetwo free-ends that is located farther from the central part of therecess 24; another free-end adjacent to the central part of the recess24 further contacts the second bent arm 53; and the second bent arm 53further includes a second contact head 55 and a third contact head 56.

The base potion 51 of the wafer restraint component 50 is an elasticstructure (for example: thermal-elastic plastic structure) and includesa bent portion. Therefore when the door 20 is not yet joined with orabout to be joined with the container body 10, the second bent arm 53 ofthe wafer restraint component 50 is horizontally attached or slightlysuspended to the surface of or above the recess 24. Thus, the wafer isfirst contacted by the first contact head 54, and during the contact,the base portion 51 is deformed, and thus the included angle of the bentis changed and levered the first bent arm 52 and the second bent arm 53,which in turn make the second contact head 55 and the third contact head56 on the second bent arm 53 contact the wafer. Meanwhile, as showingFIG. 19B, when the door 20 seals the container body 10, the second bentarm 53 is levered by the base portion 51 and the first bent arm 52 anddriven far away from the surface of the recess 24. Thus, the firstcontact head 54, the second contact head 55, and the third contact head56 of the wafer restraint component contact the wafer. Obviously, eachwafer restraint component 50 provides three contact heads for supportingthe wafer to more firmly restrict the wafer from moving toward thecenter of the opening or two sides of the opening of the wafercontainer. Certainly, in the present embodiment, a pivot 57 can bealternatively provided between the two free-ends of the first bent arm52 and on one side of the inner surface 22 of the door 20, wherein thepivot 57 is fixed on the inner surface 22 of door 20. Thus, when thebase portion 51 is deformed or the angle of the bent is changed, thefirst bent arm 52 and second bent arm 53 can be more firmly levered sothat the first contact head 54, the second contact head 55, and thethird contact head 56 can attach tightly to the wafer.

And as the abovementioned two embodiments of contact head, each of theplurality of wafer restraint components 50 can be an elastic integratedstructure (for example: thermal-elastic plastic structure). The baseportion 51 and the first bent arm 52 or second bent arm 53 can also bemade of different materials or different elastic structure (for example,thermal-elastic structure), such as plastic with different hardness.Thus, bent arms would not be deformed easily due to the deformation ofthe base portion 51. Alternatively, the first contact head 54, thesecond contact head 55, and the third contact head 56 can include arecess so as the wafer is sunk into the recess to restrict the waferfrom moving up and down. The plurality of wafer restraint components 50as described above can also be formed on a base portion, and the baseportion is firmly disposed on the inner surface 22 of the door 20.Alternatively, the plurality of wafer restraint components 50 areintegrated with the inner surface 22 of the door 20.

Furthermore, the inner surface 22 of door 20 of the present inventioncan be a plane surface without recess; at least a latch component 60 canbe disposed between inner surface 22 and outer surface 21, and a latchcomponent 60 is disposed in one preferred embodiment. The latchcomponent 60 is the same as what is described in the aforementionedembodiment so will not be described in detail. In addition, in order forthe plurality of wafers in the container body 10 can be fixed when thedoor 20 closes the container body 10, thus at least a restraint modulecan be disposed on inner surface 22 of above-mentioned plane surface ornear the central area of above-mentioned plane surface. And thestructure or the form of this restraint module is not limited in thepresent invention, therefore structures such as above-mentionedrestraint module 30, restraint module 400, restraint module 500, orother similar structures can all be included in the present invention.Similarly, the restraint module is the same as what is described in theaforementioned embodiment so the specifics of the structure will not bedescribed in detail.

Obviously, when driven by oval cam 62, the latch component 60 of thepresent invention can only make to-and-fro movement, moving forward andbackward, and no shift will occur on the longitudinal (vertical)direction. Therefore, the latch component 60 of the present invention isa simpler design. When door 20 and container body of the presentinvention close, the plurality of wafer restraint components 50 fixed oninner surface 22 of door 20 directly contact wafers. A pair of movingbars 64 are driven by cam 62 to move toward the edge of door 20, whichmakes front plane 646 of moving bars 64 go through latch hole 27 on door20 and be fastened in socket hole corresponding to latch hole 27 nearthe edge of opening of container body 10. Then, an aeration device canbe disposed for aerating air-tight component (not shown in Figure)between door 20 and container body 10 to isolate interior from exteriorof container body 10.

While the invention has been described by way of examples and in termsof the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the inventionis not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it isintended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements aswould be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the scope ofthe appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so asto encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.

1. A wafer container including a container body that having a pluralityof slots therein for placing a plurality of wafers and an opening formedon a sidewall of said wafer container for exporting said plurality ofwafers or importing said plurality of wafers, at least a pair of socketholes being disposed at the edge of said opening of said container body;and a door with an outer surface and an inner surface with at least apair of latch holes corresponding to said pair of socket holes beingdisposed at the edge of said door, said door joining with said openingof said container body via said inner surface for protecting saidplurality of wafers in said container body, the characteristic in that:a recess is disposed on said inner surface of said door and locatedbetween two platforms, and in each of said platform is disposed with alatch component, said latch component including an oval cam, a pair ofmoving bars contacting two ends of said oval cam, at least one rollerdisposed in said platform of said door and fixed in a slide groove ofsaid moving bars, and a locating spring being an integral part of saidmoving bars for controlling the turning of said oval cam to drive saidmoving bars to move to and fro between said pair of socket holes andsaid pair of latch holes.
 2. The wafer container according to claim 1,wherein a locating roller is further disposed on one end of said movingbars and said locating roller contacts said oval cam.
 3. The wafercontainer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of locating groovesis further disposed on said oval cam.
 4. The wafer container accordingto claim 1, wherein the material of said oval cam is selected from thegroup consisting of: the metal and the polymer plastic material.
 5. Thewafer container according to claim 1, wherein the material of saidmoving bars is selected from the group consisting of: the metal and thepolymer plastic material.
 6. The wafer container according to claim 1,wherein the material of said locating spring is selected from the groupconsisting of: the metal and the polymer plastic material.
 7. The wafercontainer according to claim 1, wherein the material of said roller isselected from the group consisting of: metal and polymer plasticmaterial.
 8. The wafer container according to claim 1, wherein at leasta restraint module is further disposed respectively on each of said twoplatforms.
 9. The wafer container according to claim 8, wherein saidplurality of restraint modules includes a base portion for fixing saidrestraint modules on said platforms with said base portion, and aplurality of curve portions is formed with a space at interval on alonger side of said base portion, a semicircle-like protruding portionbeing formed between each of said curve portions and its free-end, and aguide notch being disposed on each of said semicircle-like protrudingportion of each of said restraint modules 30 for contacting wafers. 10.The wafer container according to claim 9, wherein a wear-resistingmaterial is coated on contact area between said guide notch of saidprotruding portions and said wafer
 11. The wafer container according toclaim 8, wherein said plurality of restraint modules consist of aplurality of restraint components with a space at interval, and each ofsaid restraint components is aligned with a restraint component ofrestraint module located on another side of said recess; each of saidrestraint component including a base portion which is fixed on saidinner surface of said door, said plurality of base portion connecting toa curve portion on one side adjacent to said recess, each of said curveportion further extending to the central portion of said recess to forma bent arm, and said bent arm being disposed on a top of said recess.12. The wafer container according to claim 11, wherein said restraintcomponent is a springy component.
 13. The wafer container according toclaim 11, wherein a first contact head is formed where said bent arm andsaid curve portion cross, and a second contact head is formed on thefree-end of said bent arm.
 14. The wafer container according to claim 8,wherein said plurality of restraint modules consist of a plurality ofrestraint components in arrangement, and each of said restraintcomponents is aligned with a restraint component of restraint modulelocated on another side of said recess; each of said restraint componentincluding a base portion with one end of said base portion fixed on saidinner surface of said door and another end connecting to a first bentarm, said first bent arm having two free-ends with a first contact headformed at one of said two free-ends that is located farther from centralpart of said recess and the other of said two free-ends opposite to saidfirst contact head further connecting a second bent arm, said secondbent arm including a second contact head and a third contact head. 15.The wafer container according to claim 14, wherein a pivot is disposedbetween said two free-ends of said first bent arm and on one side ofsaid inner surface.
 16. The wafer container according to claim 15,wherein said pivot is fixed to said inner surface.
 17. A wafer containerincluding a container body that having a plurality of slots therein forplacing a plurality of wafers and having an opening formed on a sidewallof said wafer container for exporting said plurality of wafers orimporting said plurality of wafers, at least a pair of socket holesbeing disposed at the edge of said opening of said container body; and adoor with an outer surface and an inner surface with at least a pair oflatch holes corresponding to said pair of socket holes being disposed atthe edge of said door, said door joining with said opening of saidcontainer body via said inner surface for protecting said plurality ofwafers in said container body, the characteristic in that: at least alatch component is disposed between said inner surface and said outersurface of said door, said latch component including an oval cam, a pairof moving bars contacting two ends of said oval cam, at least one rollerdisposed between said inner surface and said outer surface of said doorand fixed in a slide groove of said moving bars, and a locating springbeing an integral part of said moving bars for controlling the turningof said oval cam to drive said moving bars to move to and between saidpair of socket holes and said pair of latch holes.
 18. The wafercontainer according to claim 17, wherein a locating roller is furtherdisposed on one end of said moving bars.
 19. The wafer containeraccording to claim 17, wherein a plurality of locating grooves isfurther disposed on said oval cam.
 20. The wafer container according toclaim 17, wherein the material of said oval cam is selected from thegroup consisting of metal and polymer plastic material.
 21. The wafercontainer according to claim 17, wherein the material of said movingbars is selected from the group consisting of metal and polymer plasticmaterial.
 22. The wafer container according to claim 17, wherein thematerial of said locating spring is selected from the group consistingof metal and polymer plastic material.
 23. The wafer container accordingto claim 17, wherein the material of said roller is selected from thegroup consisting of metal and polymer plastic material.
 24. The wafercontainer according to claim 17, wherein at least a restraint module isfurther disposed on said inner surface of said door.